


Pictures

by kenzieann27



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-12-09 07:34:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20991170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenzieann27/pseuds/kenzieann27
Summary: It's Spring Cleaning 2017, and a box of old pictures leads to a cute new memory(I'm the worst at summarizing stuff)





	Pictures

Spring cleaning was not Richie's favorite time of year, but not just because he was a chaotic person with a chaotic system of keeping things in a way that only he could understand. Spring Cleaning 2017, dubbed "the Re-Cleaning-ing", wasn't unique in that Richie was not doing any of the cleaning, but that cleaning was actually being done. The past year hasn't been the kindest to either of them, but both Richie and Steve would say that being together made it a little easier to go through.

So, both of them were content with this rainy Sunday morning, Richie reading through an old comic book as Steve tried to pull down the last box from the closet.

"You know, I could use a little help. You're the one with the tall shelves in your apartment."

"Well, to be fair, I did only get this place for me. I didn't know that I'd be living with such a short guy."

"You weren't saying anything about that last- fuck!"

Richie looked up from the comic and saw as Steve jumped up and swiped at the box, causing it to fall on top of him. Pictures spilled out from the box, most of them from a Polaroid camera. Steve caught the box before it fell to the ground, noticing the camera inside and not wanting to break it.

Rolling his eyes as he stood up, Richie placed the comic back into its box and walked over to help pick up the old pictures. "I didn't know that I'd be living with such a klutz, either."

"That was not my fault. If you just helped like I asked, then that wouldn't have happened. I have no idea what you see in comics, either."

"You and me both, bo."

Most of the pictures were Maggie's, Richie having taken the box with him after she passed away. He noticed her face in most of the upturned pictures, somewhat of a different person as they were taken before Richie was even born. After that, she put herself behind the camera rather than in front of it.

"Oh... my... God..."

Looking over at Steve with a raised eyebrow, Richie grabbed at the picture he was holding with a shaky hand; he was shaking mostly from laughter, but also from trying to push Richie away from him.

"I'm serious, give it to me."

"What the fuck is that face you're making, Richie?" In his fit of laughter, Steve attempted to mimic the toothy grin that 12-year-old Richie was displaying in the photograph.

"That's not funny. Stop laughing and give me the picture. I'm serious!"

Steve held tight onto the picture, struggling to see it through his tears, "You don't look serious here, dude. How the fuck did people ever think you were straight? Are you wearing a Hawaiian shirt? You're such a-"

"Okay, okay, you've had your fun. It's not even that funny."

"It is the best thing I've ever seen," laying on his back and kicking at Richie with his mismatched socks, Steve continued his fit of laughter as he looked back at the picture. "I just can't, dude. You look so... is this how you always dressed? Are you fucking kidding me with those glasses? Do you still have those? They must be in a box somewhere- stop it!"

Pushing away Steve's foot, Richie managed to wrestle his way to the picture, grabbing at a corner of it before being elbowed in the arm.

"You sat over there on the couch all morning, the least you could do is let me enjoy this ridiculous picture of you and your pudgy face."

"I was not pudgy!"

Steve turned the picture around so that Richie could look at his younger self, and it had occurred to him that he hasn't seen that picture in years. The boy in the picture was curled up on an old floral couch, eyes nearly closed from the force of his large smile. One of his hands was in the middle of adjusting those thick glasses, the other holding a half-eaten apple. Though the faded coloration made it hard to tell, Richie remembers those bright red shorts and that floral blue shirt. Richie pulled a face at how uncoordinated his outfits used to be, how every pattern would clash and how every color would be- not unlike its wearer- obnoxiously bright.

"Are you telling me that this face isn't pudgy? That's the pudgiest thing I've ever seen."

"Okay, I get it. I was an ugly kid. You're just lucky I grew into my looks."

"Do you even know what that means? Because you're saying that like it's a good thing."

Steve turned his attention back to the photograph, not laughing but just staring at the gangly boy on the couch. "I love him."

Richie rolled his eyes as he sat up, gathering more of the pictures on the floor. Steve nudged him with his arm, handing him the picture.

"I'm serious, look at him. He's beautiful. He's a complete dork, sure, but I wouldn't have him any other way."

Richie tossed a handful of pictures in the box, ignoring whatever statements Steve was saying to himself.

"Richie? Say something."

"I know I was a stupid kid. That's why I hate these pictures."

Steve moved over to where Richie sat on the floor, placing his head in his lap.

"Hey, what are you talking about?"

"Just look at this picture. The first thing you did was laugh. I'm 99% sure that I was being serious here, like I wasn't trying to be funny."

"I've just never seen a picture of you as a kid. I really didn't know what to expect. Certainly not Hawaiian shirts and Coke bottle glasses."

"Yeah, well that's the last picture you'll see of me as a kid."

"Don't be like that. You were adorable, really. I would have loved you as a kid just as much as I do now."

"God, I can't even imagine you growing up where I did."

"You do know I'm from Texas, right?"

"No, I know that. This is just different. Derry was just all hate. You don't even want to know some of the shit that happened to me."

"Well, you're here now. That's all that matters, right? You never have to go back there again."

Richie sighed before handing the picture back to Steve. "You can have it, since you like it so much. Just don't go posting it on your Instagram or something. I don't want to wake up tomorrow with that face all over everything."

"The only face you'll be waking up to tomorrow is mine, unless I find any more pictures like this. Then I'm definitely posting them."


End file.
